Empire of Ivory: A Novel of Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Unfortunately, I haven't had as much time to read this as I had hoped, even with Thanksgiving break this week. I am nearly at the end though, so I guess I've knocked out more than I thought! It's had some pretty unexpected twists in it, and the burgeoning (more or less friendly) rivalry between Temeraire and Izkierka is delightful! I can't wait to see where it goes! In keeping with hitting nearly every continent in the world already in the course of the series, this one takes place mostly in Africa (the southern part). Keep the tradition going!
Friday, November 28, 2014
November 16 - 22
Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
This is one of only two audiobooks I've ever listened to. I was looking for something to occupy my brain while I did some fairly simple tasks for school, and I found this while scouring the e-library offered by my school. It sounded easy enough, and it was. The voice of the character (not the actual reader's voice, but the stylistic voice) was hilariously realistic, and I loved it. The plot was predictable, but still something I had never heard before. There were a few moments that caught me off guard, and overall I quite enjoyed it! A nice simple read.
When it starts with the prom queen almost getting murdered by her history teacher in the bathroom and then kissed by the janitor-in-disguise? That's pretty promising. Throw in some things like "assasination attempt with a letter opener," "paladin," and "super badass alchemy" and you've got my attention for sure! I'll read the next one whenever I have time and can find it.
This is one of only two audiobooks I've ever listened to. I was looking for something to occupy my brain while I did some fairly simple tasks for school, and I found this while scouring the e-library offered by my school. It sounded easy enough, and it was. The voice of the character (not the actual reader's voice, but the stylistic voice) was hilariously realistic, and I loved it. The plot was predictable, but still something I had never heard before. There were a few moments that caught me off guard, and overall I quite enjoyed it! A nice simple read.
When it starts with the prom queen almost getting murdered by her history teacher in the bathroom and then kissed by the janitor-in-disguise? That's pretty promising. Throw in some things like "assasination attempt with a letter opener," "paladin," and "super badass alchemy" and you've got my attention for sure! I'll read the next one whenever I have time and can find it.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
November 9 - 15
The Hermaphrodite by Julia Ward Howe
This is a book for my early American novel class that has one of those names and covers that makes you feel a little weird to read it in public. I am, however, enjoying it for the most part. It hasn't been a struggle to get through and reads like a memoir, so of course I love it. There was a section of pages where the main character turns to God in a philosophical, rambling kind of way that I skimmed pretty generously, but other than that, it's been intriguing at the least. As for the history of the book itself, it was actually an unpublished set of manuscripts that aren't super related or even close to complete. The random sections that could be found were compiled by the man who put my edition together in the order he thought made the most sense, but there's really no set way to do it since the author never seemed to intend to publish it. It's very outside her canon, so it's even more intriguing. Reading the scattered bits at the "end" was quite interesting, and it's definitely a good thing I'm not one of those people who has issues when the author "doesn't tell you what happens at the end."
Empire of Ivory: A Novel of Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Yes! I was finally able to get the copy and time to read this! I'm only about a quarter of the way through at the moment, but there was an excellent twist that I did not see coming at all! I'm really excited to keep reading and I hope I continue to have time to do so! Temeraire is, as always, an excellent and intriguing character, and the addition to the wily young Kazilik dragon (a fire-breather!) has me groaning in frustration and smiling indulgently at her antics. The ferals are a clever addition, and quite frankly, the dragons are always the most interesting characters. This could be my own personal inclination rather than the writing, but I think in this case it's just inevitable. They're so interesting! Anyway, I'm going to go read some more of it while I have the time!
This is a book for my early American novel class that has one of those names and covers that makes you feel a little weird to read it in public. I am, however, enjoying it for the most part. It hasn't been a struggle to get through and reads like a memoir, so of course I love it. There was a section of pages where the main character turns to God in a philosophical, rambling kind of way that I skimmed pretty generously, but other than that, it's been intriguing at the least. As for the history of the book itself, it was actually an unpublished set of manuscripts that aren't super related or even close to complete. The random sections that could be found were compiled by the man who put my edition together in the order he thought made the most sense, but there's really no set way to do it since the author never seemed to intend to publish it. It's very outside her canon, so it's even more intriguing. Reading the scattered bits at the "end" was quite interesting, and it's definitely a good thing I'm not one of those people who has issues when the author "doesn't tell you what happens at the end."
Empire of Ivory: A Novel of Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Yes! I was finally able to get the copy and time to read this! I'm only about a quarter of the way through at the moment, but there was an excellent twist that I did not see coming at all! I'm really excited to keep reading and I hope I continue to have time to do so! Temeraire is, as always, an excellent and intriguing character, and the addition to the wily young Kazilik dragon (a fire-breather!) has me groaning in frustration and smiling indulgently at her antics. The ferals are a clever addition, and quite frankly, the dragons are always the most interesting characters. This could be my own personal inclination rather than the writing, but I think in this case it's just inevitable. They're so interesting! Anyway, I'm going to go read some more of it while I have the time!
Friday, November 7, 2014
November 2 - 8
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Yep, I finally finished it, and for the most part enjoyed this novel. We discussed the juxtaposition of how this novel provided a great push for abolition in the United States, and yet portrays largely stereotyped and racialized characters such as Chloe as Mammy, Tom as the Good Christion (reminds me of Equiano a bit there), Tom's children and Topsy as the Wild African, and various cunning Sambos throughout. Some good stuff in here, and I also enjoyed the journeys that moved away from each other: Tom to the south, George and Eliza to the north.
Twitter help pages
Yes, Twitter. I finally created an account after reading so much and hearing firsthand from teachers I respect that Twitter is an excellent source of information and ideas for teachers. I bit the bullet, and I'm actually really loving it! However, Twitter is quite different from other social media I've played around with, and has taken some adjusting and some Google searches. In addition to these help pages...
Various Education Articles
My hopes for Twitter came true, and I actually discovered a new app just for organizing all of the readings and links and videos I've been finding! Twitter is a concise feed of helpful ideas and interesting theories, when you use it properly (i.e. not following meme characters).
As for the app I mentioned, it's called Pocket, and it's pretty fabulous. It saves articles, videos, whatever you want, across different platforms (laptop, tablet, smartphone) and downloads them so you can view them offline. You add things through the share button, read it later. It has tagging features as is pretty standard these days, and you can easily send an article to someone else (regardless of if they have the app or not). If you're interested, check it out here at getpocket.com, or search for it in whatever your smartphone store may be. I'll see you there!
Yep, I finally finished it, and for the most part enjoyed this novel. We discussed the juxtaposition of how this novel provided a great push for abolition in the United States, and yet portrays largely stereotyped and racialized characters such as Chloe as Mammy, Tom as the Good Christion (reminds me of Equiano a bit there), Tom's children and Topsy as the Wild African, and various cunning Sambos throughout. Some good stuff in here, and I also enjoyed the journeys that moved away from each other: Tom to the south, George and Eliza to the north.
Twitter help pages
Yes, Twitter. I finally created an account after reading so much and hearing firsthand from teachers I respect that Twitter is an excellent source of information and ideas for teachers. I bit the bullet, and I'm actually really loving it! However, Twitter is quite different from other social media I've played around with, and has taken some adjusting and some Google searches. In addition to these help pages...
Various Education Articles
My hopes for Twitter came true, and I actually discovered a new app just for organizing all of the readings and links and videos I've been finding! Twitter is a concise feed of helpful ideas and interesting theories, when you use it properly (i.e. not following meme characters).
As for the app I mentioned, it's called Pocket, and it's pretty fabulous. It saves articles, videos, whatever you want, across different platforms (laptop, tablet, smartphone) and downloads them so you can view them offline. You add things through the share button, read it later. It has tagging features as is pretty standard these days, and you can easily send an article to someone else (regardless of if they have the app or not). If you're interested, check it out here at getpocket.com, or search for it in whatever your smartphone store may be. I'll see you there!
Saturday, November 1, 2014
October 26 - November 1
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
I have plowed through about half of this, although I still have a few hundred pages to go before class this upcoming week (yikes!). Luckily, it's a wonderful novel, one that I'm enjoying immensely and quite thankful for the required reading. The characters are delightful. Stowe did a great job blurring and simultaneously stressing the lines of race in this book, and I thoroughly enjoy the wit and fervor that appears in unexpected places and people. I must admit, everything about this book is not what I expected---in the best kinds of ways!
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1864
This is part of a really cool project for my American Novel class. We were assigned to choose a newspaper from the 1800s and read several copies of it. The one I chose was Frank Leslie's, as mentioned above, and it was based out of New York. The newspapers each had a specific format, which mainly featured a front page story on current civil war developments, followed by a summary of war events by state, as well as some local news and "chit-chat." The rest of each issue was split between submitted stories, poems, and even jokes by readers, and about two pages of ads to end. I developed favorite sections, which I would skip to first (those being "chit-chat," "accidents and offences," "Fun for the Family" jokes, and the ads). There was also a contest winner's story that was in the process of being published serially, about a chapter a week. The illustrated portion of the title was showcased in numerous multi-page sketches and illustrations done by a nameless "special artist" who would recount battle scenes, last week's fair, and decorated war heroes. Apparently they were featured as inserts that were sometimes even carved on wood or thin sheets of metal! How cool! Anyway, it's pretty awesome, and the year that I was reading (1864) can be found here.
I have plowed through about half of this, although I still have a few hundred pages to go before class this upcoming week (yikes!). Luckily, it's a wonderful novel, one that I'm enjoying immensely and quite thankful for the required reading. The characters are delightful. Stowe did a great job blurring and simultaneously stressing the lines of race in this book, and I thoroughly enjoy the wit and fervor that appears in unexpected places and people. I must admit, everything about this book is not what I expected---in the best kinds of ways!
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1864
This is part of a really cool project for my American Novel class. We were assigned to choose a newspaper from the 1800s and read several copies of it. The one I chose was Frank Leslie's, as mentioned above, and it was based out of New York. The newspapers each had a specific format, which mainly featured a front page story on current civil war developments, followed by a summary of war events by state, as well as some local news and "chit-chat." The rest of each issue was split between submitted stories, poems, and even jokes by readers, and about two pages of ads to end. I developed favorite sections, which I would skip to first (those being "chit-chat," "accidents and offences," "Fun for the Family" jokes, and the ads). There was also a contest winner's story that was in the process of being published serially, about a chapter a week. The illustrated portion of the title was showcased in numerous multi-page sketches and illustrations done by a nameless "special artist" who would recount battle scenes, last week's fair, and decorated war heroes. Apparently they were featured as inserts that were sometimes even carved on wood or thin sheets of metal! How cool! Anyway, it's pretty awesome, and the year that I was reading (1864) can be found here.
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